Developing a Research Proposal: Demonstration of theoretical and methodological perspectives

Demonstrate the following knowledge and understanding

Demonstrate critical understanding of theoretical and methodological perspectives relevant to an investigation of our chosen research topic

Demonstrate the following skills and abilities

Synthesise, evaluate and defend the findings of your research and communicate the results in a focused, logically organised, appropriately concluded format and referenced according to the format and standard of the Harvard system.

What am I required to do in this assignment?

Your research proposal must include the following:

You must use a minimum of 8 academic sources (i.e. peer-reviewed journal articles and academic books) in order to pass.

Your work must be Word processed, double spaced, Arial 11 Font. You must number the pages and you must also include a word count

You will need to source articles in the library, especially journal articles, as they will provide you with the latest research evidence/arguments.

You must write in your own words. You are reminded that plagiarism of any type will be penalised and result in a fail.

What do I need to do to pass?

Demonstrate a critical understanding of the most appropriate theoretical perspectives, which can be adopted to study your chosen topic;

Refine and develop the research question identified to produce an answerable question with a clear focus, set aims and objectives and discusses relevant ethical considerations.

Produce a systematic strategy for deciding what to search for, with clear inclusion and exclusion criteria, to identify the most relevant literature and then implement it.

Propose and justify a potentially appropriate method and methodology to collect secondary and or primary data that could address the research question within prescribed resource parameters.

Discuss how such data might be analysed and in what ways the findings might be useful

How do I produce high quality work that merits a good grade?

To produce a high quality proposal which merits a good grade your work should provide:

A clearly formulated and answerable question that provides the basis for your piece of work. Your question should be well defined and focused, with a related set of aims and objectives and a discussion relating to the above that provides a rationale or justificatin

How does this assignment relate to what we are doing in scheduled sessions?

The aim of this assignment is to develop a workable plan for the Assessment 2 Independent Project. The proposal must consist of a clearly formulated answerable research question, a set of aim (s) and objectives, research context/background, a relevant theory and methodology that will inform the actual project and the completion plan.

You are to work independently on the assignments on this unit and seek advice from your supervisor on the direction of your research.

Teaching will take place during the first six weeks (before the submission date) to help you gain understanding of the key assignment requirements. You will find the first three lectures particularly helpful for completing this assignment, because they are focused on the following elements:  formulating a good research question, choosing the right method and linking theory to research.

We will also have weekly online sessions on collaborate to help you develop your ideas so you present a realistic proposal.